Being A Creator Is Simple: Stick To Deadlines
This notorious video game auteur said what exactly?
Deadlines and creativity don’t mix.
That’s what many say, at least.
I beg to differ.
It’s important to not unduly malign deadlines for creative purposes, even for professional ones. They aren’t just for large projects with tons of contributors. They’re a core component of solopreneurship and creative pursuits—of anything worthwhile.
Video game auteur Hideo Kojima (who has helmed franchises like Metal Gear and Death Stranding) was once the focal point of many a discussion on the old internet, when humans still roamed the lands. Many of his games (most?) were delayed and went over budget. It seemed all he was interested in was creating cryptic trailers.
Most internet gaming enthusiasts lambasted him for not giving a shit about deadlines, and being a terrible businessman. “He has no sense of business, this dude is just burning money, of course no one wants to work with him!” they cried, with that all-too-common air of superiority and knowing-it-all one can only truly hope to call upon for topics they don’t understand and never will.
Of course, he would eventually release Death Stranding in 2019, and I absolutely hated it, quitting early, but that’s a different point.
Hideo Kojima went on record stating the obvious1:
The one big misconception about myself is that I don’t stick to deadlines, I don’t keep to my schedule. Like I’ve said before, if you can’t do that, you can’t be a creator.
We have to stay moving
The reality of the world is that we need to make money.
Even (or maybe especially) freelancers and solopreneurs need to be extremely on top of their time. We need to make ends meet. That requires an output. This output can take many different shapes, but it needs to see the light of day—and it needs to do so regularly.
For this newsletter to keep moving I stick to a schedule, and accompanying deadlines. Having deadlines forces me to constrain myself. It discourages perfectionism, which is the enemy of good enough.
I release when it’s good enough—because I have to. Because I set a schedule. Because I have to stay moving. Because we live in a society.
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https://gamingbolt.com/hideo-kojima-the-one-big-misconception-about-myself-is-that-i-dont-stick-to-deadlines